Number processing and arithmetic skills in children with cochlear implants

Abstract

Though previous findings report that hearing impaired children exhibit impaired language and arithmetic skills, our current understanding of how hearing and the associated language impairments may influence the development of arithmetic skills is still limited. In the current study numerical/arithmetic performance of 45 children with a cochlea implant were compared to that of controls matched for hearing age, intelligence and sex. Our main results were twofold disclosing that children with CI show general as well as specific numerical/arithmetic impairments. On the one hand, we found an increased percentage of children with CI with an indication of dyscalculia symptoms, a general slowing in multiplication and subtraction as well as less accurate number line estimations. On the other hand, however, children with CI exhibited very circumscribed difficulties associated with place-value processing. Performance declined specifically when subtraction required a borrow procedure and number line estimation required the integration of units, tens, and hundreds instead of only units and tens. Thus, it seems that despite initially atypical language development, children with CI are able to acquire arithmetic skills in a qualitatively similar fashion as their normal hearing peers. Nonetheless, when demands on place-value understanding, which has only recently been proposed to be language mediated, hearing impaired children experience specific difficulties.

Reasons for Language : Language and Analogical Reasoning Ability in Children with Cochlear Implants and Children with Typical Hearing

“…If the quality of the sound input is reduced, top down processes are needed for language comprehension (Hannemann et al, 2007;Rönnberg et al, 2013). If the incoming signal does not match the information saved in the semantic long-term memory, cognitive processes are needed to solve this mismatch.…”

“…If the incoming signal does not match the information saved in the semantic long-term memory, cognitive processes are needed to solve this mismatch. Rönnberg et al (2013) argue that WM dependent processes are used to infer the missing information from the sound signal. Having a CI leads to persistent sub-optimal listening conditions and cognitive factors might therefore be of greater importance when acquiring and using language with such a device.…”

“…A second explanation for language delays might be that the input from a CI is more sparse compared to typical hearing (TH) (Loizou, 2006). This might make spoken language acquisition, as well as spoken language use, more cognitively demanding as more top-down processes are needed to interpret the incoming sound (Rönnberg et al, 2013). Many children with CIs have varying degrees of language delays when they start formal education (at age 6 in Sweden) (Geers et al, 2009;Hansson et al, Introduction ing of an utterance, they want to know what the conversational partner is trying to communicate (Tomasello, 2000).…”

Longitudinal development of subtraction performance in elementary school

“…In addition to factual arithmetic knowledge, solving multidigit arithmetic problems requires the representation of numerical magnitude (e.g., Linsen, Verschaffel, Reynvoet, & Smedt, 2014), as well as an understanding of the place-value structure of the Arabic numeral system (e.g., Geary, 2000). Mastering the place-value structure is of particular importance for the carry operation in two-digit addition (G€ obel, Moeller, Pixner, Kaufmann, & Nuerk, 2014;Moeller, Klein, & Nuerk, 2011a;Nuerk, Moeller, Klein, Willmes, & Fischer, 2011;Nuerk, Moeller, & Willmes, 2015), as well as for the borrow operation in two-digit subtraction (Cauley, 1988;Fuson & Kwon, 1992;Pixner, Leyrer, & Moeller, 2014;Resnick, 1982). A carry operation in addition is needed when the sum of the units of the summands exceeds 9, so that the decade digit of the unit sum must be carried to the tens position (e.g., for 46 + 38, the sum of the units is 6 + 8 = 14, so the decade digit of the unit sum must be carried to the sum of the decade digits of the summands, i.e., 4 + 3 + 1 = 8, for the result of 84).…”

“…Mastering the place‐value structure is of particular importance for the carry operation in two‐digit addition (Göbel, Moeller, Pixner, Kaufmann, & Nuerk, ; Moeller, Klein, & Nuerk, ; Moeller, Pixner, Zuber, Kaufmann, & Nuerk, ; Nuerk, Moeller, Klein, Willmes, & Fischer, ; Nuerk, Moeller, & Willmes, ), as well as for the borrow operation in two‐digit subtraction (Cauley, ; Fuson & Kwon, ; Pixner, Leyrer, & Moeller, ; Resnick, ). A carry operation in addition is needed when the sum of the units of the summands exceeds 9, so that the decade digit of the unit sum must be carried to the tens position (e.g., for 46 + 38, the sum of the units is 6 + 8 = 14, so the decade digit of the unit sum must be carried to the sum of the decade digits of the summands, i.e., 4 + 3 + 1 = 8, for the result of 84).…”